"The cemetery in the beginning of Saving Private Ryan is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France: The cemetery is the largest allied burial ground in Normandy and honors American soldiers who died in Europe during World War II. It's located on the site of the former Saint Laurent battlefield cemetery and covers 172.5 acres. The cemetery contains 9,388 gravesites, including those of two of the Niland brothers, who may have inspired the character Private Ryan."
A note on the "surrendering" "Germans" - They WERE in German uniforms but they were speaking Czech saying "We are not German, we are Czech, we didnt kill anyone" - spielberg did this to give a nod to the 1000's of Czechs that were "impressed" into German service on the Atlantic Wall.
Check out police videos. The bad guy rarely says yup i shot that guy i'm guilty. No shortage of non germans that jumped on the nazi band wagon when they were winning
"Every man I kill, the further away from home I feel." This is the key line of the movie. Captain Miller knows that the war is eating away at his humanity.
Spielberg told the actors that the movie was not about having fun or just another action movie. He wanted to portray the raw horrors of war and the emotion. He even had the Actors camp out with rations for a few days to really let them get a feel of what their role was going to be, mentally prepare the role and really get into character. Spielberg wanted the movie to connect with veterans. One veteran said.. "The movie was as close as you will get to the horrors of that war and that he captured the emotion perfectly.". ❤❤
You are the first reactor I have seen that has shown sympathy when it comes to the scene where the French parents are trying to get the Americans to take their children. So many reactors who, if they comment on that part, have said things along the lines of, “That’s just stupid” “Why would you do that” or “I would never do that to my child.” I’m not saying these other reactors are bad people, but it goes to show how far removed from the horrors of war most of us are, because if anyone could possibly have it worse than the soldiers, it’s the civilians who are caught in the crossfire. Thank you for that little moment. ❤️
HACK. SAW. RIDGE!! Incredible story of someone who was SO MUCH MORE badass in real life, amazing acting, stunning score, and some of the most beautiful cinematography I’ve ever seen
All my uncles were either at Omaha beach, in the 101st Airborne (Screaming Eagles) of in the Merchant Marines at sea. My dad was in California preparing to go ashore in Japan but they dropped the atomic bomb so the war was over. My uncle Paul was a short Italian who landed at Omaha Beach and his landing craft was short so he jumped out and sank to the bottom. a tall friend from Iowa pulled him out and saved his life. That friend later got shot in the head by a sniper. My Uncle Johnny was in the 82nd then 101st Airborne. He was stuck at Bastogne during Christmas of 1944. This was the Greatest Generation and Spielberg showed all the true emotions of that these men and their families felt.
For what it's worth, they were serving in a merchant marine (merchant navy), not "merchant marines" themselves. People working on a merchant-marine ship are "merchant mariners," or "merchant sailors." "Merchant marines" would refer to merchant navies from two or more countries. At any rate, bless their souls.
@@rmlb36 Ok, well, you're entirely missing the point, still referring to individuals as "merchant marines." I didn't say anything about their status as military in wartime.
Capt. Miller may be a fictional character, but there are still about 60,000 WWII veterans still alive. I can't imagine how they feel seeing things the way they are.
All of those "balloons" on the beach, that you asked about, are called "barrage balloons." They are sent aloft and tethered to a stationary object. They have thick steel guy-wires holding them in place. They are used to prevent enemy aircraft from flying low along the beach and shooting at troops.
Barrage Balloons were used to protect ground troops from enemy aircraft that would come to strafe the beaches. These balloons had steel cables attached to them that presented a hazard to enemy aircraft.
@@SparksDrinker number one; “- Michael Sullivan: I'd like to work for you. - Frank Nitti: Well... that's very interesting. - Michael Sullivan: And in return, I'd like you to turn a blind eye to... what I have to do. - Frank Nitti: And what is that? - Michael Sullivan: Kill the man who murdered my family.”
We Were Soldiers, Lone Survivor, 13 Hours, Glory, The Patriot, Hacksaw Ridge...the list of amazing war movies is long. And its worth watching every single one of them. Great reaction guys.
The Thin Red Line, it's a Masterpiece! It's about the WW2 US soldiers fighting the Pacific against the Japanese! Most people know of The War in Europe like Private Ryan, but the War in the Pacific fighting from island to island against the Japanese who were dug in, and would never surrender was something else! It's where they raised the famous statue of American Flag on the Island of IWO JIMA!! My jaw was on the floor during some battie scenes! It's VERY realistic! 😮
@@chrisfofficial Which is exactly why it's not realistic at all. The entire nonsense of them being philosophical while in the combat zone is ridiculous. Ask anyone who's ever been in combat about this movie, they will laugh. Sure, once you get far from the fighting there may be time and state of mind for all of the reflection and pontificating, but that's not how it goes at all in combat. Again, instead of just imagining something, ask someone who's actually been in it, you obviously havent (and yes, I have 3 combat ribbons and a purple heart. TTRL is NOT how it is)
A fantastic movie that rips my guts out every time. My grandfather was in Germany in WW2 and got blown up in Hurtigan forest. Spent a year in hospital recovering. When my dad was in the Air Force we got stationed in Germany. My grandpa refused to come visit until the last 6 months because of his PTSD. H They did finally come visit and he loved it. Probably just because he could see his grandkids
People don't understand a very simple truth about soldiers at war. No matter what mission you are on you are in danger of dying. Every mission contributes to winning the war. Saving one soldier is no more dangerous than any other mission. As Hanks says 'We are here to win the war.'
Here are a few of my favourite war/military themed films: Pre WWI: Zulu; The Four Feathers (1939); Glory!; Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World; Breaker Morant; The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936); The Red Badge of Courage (1951) WWI: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930); Gallipoli; Paths of Glory; Sergeant York WWII: Hacksaw Ridge; Das Boot; The Great Escape; The Dirty Dozen; Stalag 17; The Bridge on the River Kwai; The Battle of Britain; Letters From Iwo Jima; The Pacific (Band of Brothers type mini series); Patton; The Guns of Navarone; Where Eagles Dare; Enemy at the Gates; Memphis Belle Post WWII: We Were Soldiers; The Killing Fields; Pork Chop Hill; Black Hawk Down; Apocalypse Now OK, that's more than a few, but there are a lot of good films out there.
If you watch Letters from Iwo Jima then watch Flags of Our Fathers as they are supposed to be watched together; Flags of our Fathers tells the story of the battle of Iwo Jima from the US side and Letters from Iwo Jima is from the Japanese point of view. Both absolutely fantastic masterpieces by Clint Eastwood.
I was a Navy Corpsman (counterpart to Wade's Doc), I served 10 years, 8 with Marines. I saw this on a Tuesday afternoon. There were 12 of us. Myself, and 11 others, all veterans. At the end of the movies, the house lights went up. All of us had teary eyes. One old man stated the following- "As far as war movies go, that was the most accurate depiction I've ever seen . As for the ACTUAL D-Day, it didn't come close" His hat said it all- D-Day Survivor, Purple Heart. I have always deferred to his expert opinion. As bad as you think it was as shown in the movie, it was much, much worse. As accurate as it was, they simply could not show the reality of that day. The beach wasn't taken in 20 minutes, it took nearly 12 hours. The beach was nearly 500 yards wide thanks to a very low tide. There was literally no cover. All they could do was take whatever was thrown at them. While this was shown from the American sectors, Canadian, British & Commonwealth Nations were all present on those beaches.
And then, after all that, the 2nd Ranger Battalion had to scale the 100 foot cliffs at Pointe du Hoc, under enemy fire, to remove the German artillery that wan't even there. The Greatest Generation indeed!
If I recall correctly the Canadians at Juno were landed at the right spot and the Naval barrage did a much better job of softening up the shore defences where the Americans at Omaha were landed in the wrong position and the Navy missed the shore defences and the shells hit too far inland so all of the German positions were more or less completely intact when the Americans hit the beach.
And for as awful Omaha beach was, that level of death and despair (or worse) was basically a daily occurrence on the Eastern Front for almost the entire war.
The beach was actually taken in roughly 4.5 hours. The first wave of landing forces hit Omaha beach at 0630 hours. 0830 hour landing was in force taking heavy casualties. 1000 hours, troops began regrouping into small units searching for beach exits. 1030 Hour, US units start to overwhelm german defences. By 1100 hours Major General Gerow, commander of V Corps, receives the first positive intelligence report to come from Omaha Beach. Spotters observe GIs advancing up the slope behind Easy Red and Easy Fox. The fortified house at Exit E-3 has fallen silent, and a destroyer is shelling Les Moulins. The report ends, “Things look better.” The situation at Omaha continues to gradually improve during the afternoon.
The Royal Canadian Army participated on Juno Beach part of the Normandy Invasion. Canadian Actor James Doohan (Played Scotty on Star Trek) was a veteran.
Canadians were some of the fiercest fighters and bad-ass soldiers in the ETO. Following Juno they ran into one of the toughest, most elite German units in the entire Wehrmacht and destroyed it (12th SS panzer division). The fighting the Canadians did in Italy was also some of the fiercest fighting in that campaign. As an American vet who reads everything he can about WW2, I have the utmost respect for the Canadian troops that fought in that war. Some bad-ass dudes for sure.
2:54 not chain guns, but MG42 belt fed machine guns. Chain guns are typically mounted on vehicles and use a chain-linked system to help cycle the weapon’s action (something like the M242 Bushmaster, which is mounted on Bradley IFVs that you see in Ukraine right now, is a chain gun). The MG42 was the standard infantry machine gun for the Germans in WWII. A weapon so effective that it is basically still being used today. It fires at an incredible 1,200-1,500 RPM. For context, most Allied machine guns fired around 500-600 RPM. No other infantry machine gun fired that fast. They were so effective that the Americans had to create specific training films to help soldiers deal with the sound of the weapon firing.
Excellent. You guys have such superb & genuine reactions, intellectually & emotionally, to everything of your content that I have watched. Love you & your work. Thank you for sharing all with us.
What the German soldier says to Mellish at the end of the knife fight is haunting. It almost makes me regret learning German. He says: "Give up, you don't stand a chance. Let's end this here. It will be easier for you, much easier. You'll see it will be over quickly."
Yeah, "Schindler's List" is a perfect bookend to this film and to Spielberg's filmography, in general. It shows what we there in Europe fighting for. Well, sort of. The US certainly didn't really get involved to try and stop the Holocaust until we got bombed by Japan at Pearl Harbor (but don't bother watching that movie) but SL might be Spielberg's ultimate masterpiece, and certainly on of his most personal given his Jewish heritage.
Except that disgusting twisted dinner party they had where the scumbags ate jealous so they start disrespecting the women. Fcking grotesque behavior. Charming party, it's a pity I wasn't invited. I would have loved to have, corrected them.
Always good to see someone watch Saving Private Ryan for the first time. It is a tough movie to get through, but I believe it is an important one to have seen at least once. Off the top of my head two other war movies that greatly impressed me are 'We Were Soldiers' and 'Black Hawk Down'. Good luck with your journey to 40k subscribers!
I've been to the cemetery at the start/end, it's literally just a few hundred yards from the beach itself - it was an emotional and humbling experience.
I’m still amazed the Americans were able to take that beach.The Germans had all the advantages and only two US DD Sherman tanks were able to get onto the beach as so many were launched too far out and sank.Apparently some battleships were able to get in close and add firepower to take out some of the machine gun nests.The Canadians also had it pretty bad at Juno as well,but Omaha was the one that came close to being lost.I hope to do that trip to Normandy myself.After all the films and documentaries I’ve seen,I feel like I know the place!
They did mention the Sullivans, five brothers enlisted and assigned to the USS Juneau, all died when the ship was sunk. Recommendations "Valkyrie", "Momuments Men" "Conspiracy" "Patton" "Tora Tora Tora" "Blackhawk Down" to name a few. Great reactions, two in a row I have watched. The opening and closing scene was the Normandy cemetery American section, there is a British and French sector.
I believe Saving Private Ryan was the first Hanks/Spielberg collaboration. This caused them to work together and do Band of Brothers followed by The Pacific and now Masters of the Air. I have not seen Masters of the Air yet, but consider the other three Spielberg/Hanks works it will be amazing. I highly recommend you watch them. One of the best movies is the true story of Desmond Doss called Hacksaw Ridge. This movie has so much meaning to me because of my Dad. Desmond Doss was an Army Medic, my Dad was a Navy Corpsman with the Marines and both were in the Battle of Okinawa. This movie is so emotional and inspiring. Other good movies based on WWII are The Fighting Sullivans. The General and his officers talk about the Sullivan brothers while talking about getting Ryan back. There are two good Clint Eastwood movies (Producer). Letters From Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers. These two movies are based on the Battle of Iwo Jima, one from the Japanese Perspective the other from the American Perspective. Tora, Tora, Tora is another good movie, it is about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and ends at the Battle of Midway, which was the turning point in the war in the Pacific. Just a suggestion from a Navy Vet who served for 41 years 45 days.
A Vietnam war movie thqt is a "hard watch" is "Platoon" (1986) with Charlie Sheen, Tom Bereneger, and Willem Dafoe, and directed by Oliver Stone It won 4 Oscars, including for Best Picture and Best Directing.
And Oscar for Best Siund (since you mentioned it). You MUST see Schindler's List (Best picture Oscar by Spielberg); everyone needs to see this movie once in their lifetime.
An EXCELLENT film is the 1946 release of The Best Years of Our Lives. It won several Oscars and was one of the first films chosen to be part of the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry for its importance. It follows three veterans returning home. The director, and many crew and casts members were veterans and incorporated some of their personal experiences into the film. It is a quietly profound and powerful film. Highly recommended.
I am so glad you finally had an opportunity to see this great film. It is one of the most moving films I have ever experienced. Great reaction and I look forward to what is next for the two of you. We Were Soldiers and Windtalkers are two great movies to see. There are many more, two many to mention.
Fantastic reaction! This movie is both gut-wrenching and beautiful at the same time. Love that you noticed the general had memorized Abe Lincoln's letter, that is subtle but very cool. And Chandra, you have huge "Disney Princess" eyes that are very expressive so when you are sad it is very impactful!
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN inspired Spielberg and Hanks to create Band of Brothers. As for suggestions, I personally think WE WERE SOLDIERS starring Mel Gibson is a great war movie
Everytime I rewatch this movie that last scene with Captain Miller telling Private Ryan to "Earn This", and then the older Ryan asking his wife to tell him hes lead a good life, that hes a good man. "begging her to let him know if he is and if he has is how I see it" just crushes me and makes me look back at my life and makes me ask myself the same things. "to which I honestly come up short every time". This is one of those movies that makes you look back at your own life and no matter how much you do, you never seem to be able to say yes to both questions. and that just further crushes me more.
I had never seen an entire theater audience sit in stunned silence for an extended period until the opening assault of this movie. For the rest the audience remained reserved because we had no idea when something bad would happen, or to whom. Steven Spielberg is the most versatile filmmaker we've ever seen, and one of the most prolific. He gave us Schindler's List and Jurassic Park in the same year (1993). For a very different take on WWII from him, check out 1941 (1979) War Film Recs: The Train 1964 The Great Escape 1963 Stalag 17 1953 The Hurt Locker 2008 The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 Das Boot 1981 The Dam Busters 1955 1917 2019 The Dirty Dozen 1967 The Pianist 2002 Hacksaw Ridge 2016
Murder holes is a reference to impact craters that were created by the enemy pre sighting their artillery. They would fire, creating the crater where soldiers would seek cover, then fire another round to hit the same spot. Defilade refers to a low spot that is unseen by the enemy.
We Were Soldiers is among the best of the Vietnam war films. One of my personal favorites for how it depicts what a prolonged firefight looks like, and also bouncing between the war, and the toll it takes on the families at home. Based on the first engagements of American soldiers in Vietnam and Hal Moore's book "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young" (Hal Moore being the commander of the unit depicted in the film.) Honestly, you might really enjoy Tora! Tora! Tora! It's a World War 2 movie about Pearl Harbor and was filmed by both American and Japanese film crews. It's a little procedural, but it really depicts just how both sides saw the event. It's a classic. There's also other classics like The Longest Day, The Big Red One, Patton. Also, if you guys really enjoyed Band of Brothers, there's also its sidequel series "THe Pacific" which depicts the experience of Americans fighting against The Japanese.
We Were Soldiers is typical Mel Gibson; great action movie, but laughably inaccurate. Having Col Moore as advisor didn't keep the nonsense out of the script, but still a good watch. My favorite Vietnam movie would be The Iron Triangle, as it presents the view from both sides. The Beast is an excellent movie about Soviets in Afghanistan, realistic except for the basic plot, but it puts good acting over just effects.
Great reaction guy! I saw this in the theater when it was first released….thst opening scene on the beaches of Normandy was so intense. Every person in was shocked…loud gasps, cries, tears,…it was a very difficult few minutes.
Yep same here,1998.That opening on Dog Green sector of Omaha Beach was absolutely incredible and the cinema I was in was so quiet as that battle took place.I remember watching a documentary on the BBC that year and GIs saying it was the most realistic depiction of the landings they’d seen.One GI said the film THE LONGEST DAY, got it so wrong,saying that they didn’t come off the landing craft howling like banshees! British landing boat driver,Jimmy Green,who took GIs into Omaha beach tells us how virtually every GI on his boat was hit and he was in tears telling us.Those machine gun nests on the bluffs with those MG 42s,Hitlers buzzsaws,did horrific damage to the first couple of waves of American soldiers that landed.
@@Gunnar001Film makers have always done this Gunnar.Creative licensing they call it.If you want to see a war movie filled with inaccuracies,watch the 1965 film,THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE.Even Eisenhower criticised it! Just enjoy it for what it was,a cracking war movie and a great story.And more importantly,the reactors enjoyed it which this is all about.
I highly HIGHLY recommend The Big Red One, (1980) A story of the Ist Infantry Brigade, WW2. It stars Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill (yes, that one) and Robert Carradine. Excellent Movie, and ends with the same experience feeling as the Band of Brothers.
The Big Red One is a particular favorite of mine. My father served in the 1st Infantry Division from the North African invasion through Sicily. He was then transferred to the 3rd Infantry Division as a replacement. So To Hell and Back is another favorite. Since it's about Audie Murphy the most decorated soldier of WW2 who also was in the 3rd Infantry Division.
My personal quintessential war movie list. Some aren’t necessarily combat specific movies but I feel are worth including. Also this list is just what I’ve seen that has impacted me the most so far. There are other classics I’m aware of but haven’t gotten around to yet like “Come and See, 1985” which I hear is incredible, “The Thin Red Line, 1998” and “Paths of Glory, 1957” just to name a few. 1. Saving Private Ryan, 1998 2. Schindlers List, 1993 3. Apocalypse Now, 1979 4. Full Metal Jacket, 1987 5. Hacksaw Ridge, 2016 6. Oppenheimer, 2023 7. All Quiet on the Western Front ( both the 2022 and original 1930 versions ) 8. “1917”, 2019 9. The Great Escape, 1963 10. Das Boot, 1981 11. We Were Soldiers, 2002 12. Dunkirk, 2017 13. Letters From Iwo Jima, 2006 14. Platoon, 1986 15. Black Hawk Down, 2001 16. Flags of Our Fathers, 2006 These are just my personal favorites. It’s mostly film depictions of battles or events from the 20th century. So it excludes a myriad of other equally important and impactful stories and events. Also things like “The Pacific” would be top 5 if I included mini series and the like. Thanks yall for such a beautiful reaction to not only my favorite war film but my favorite film of all time. Y’all are the best and I wish you more of it! 🤗 Sending love your way from Tulsa Oklahoma USA 🇺🇸🙏❤️🫡🇨🇦🥜✊😎👌
Flags of Our Fathers, director Clint Eastwood. At the Academy Awards Show Steven Spielberg said it best, "these were a bunch of 18,19 and 20 year olds and they saved the whole damn world."
*"Omaha"* was the deadliest landing on *D-Day* the *US* other landing was named *"Utah"* but you *Canadians* played a part at landing *"Juno"* working with & between the two *British* landings *"Gold" & "Sword"*
Omaha had the highest number of killed and wounded but Ive read in a few books that Juno actually had the highest number of casualties compared to troops landed
"Saving Private Ryan" is one of if not the best anti-war films ever made. It pulls no punches in showing the audience the brutal, horrible reality of warfare. Young men are thrown into a meat grinder, and those who survive it are forever changed - sometimes for the worse.
Spielberg was adamant that any sufficiently realistic war film is an anti-war film. Even still, there's an element of glorification through the reverence to its participants, perpetuating the "no such thing as an anti-war film" adage. Hell, even Full Metal Jacket, which is much bleaker and more cynical, precipitated significant spikes in military enlistment.
@@GarrettJayChristian ... I would say that any war film that shows soldiers being brave, unselfish and self-sacrificing could indeed inspire people to enlist. Perhaps it also happens in films with heroic police officers or rescue teams.
Shooting down the scope. Both snipers at that moment in time were aimed in on each other. But the American was one-one thousandth faster on pulling the trigger.
During the Napoleonic Wars and the tall-masted sailing ship era, "Master and Commander" with Russell Crowe and Paul Bethany is a great war movie and a respite from the mechanized nihilism of modern warfare.
Great reaction to a truly great film. Seeing this when it first came out at one of the best theatres in the U.S. - Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood - was an amazing movie-going experience. In that final battle scene when they tanks are approaching and you can see the ground rumbing, so were our seats. You could totally feel it and the rest of the sound system really contributed to the battle scenes, in particular. There are so many other amazing films covering all the wars (sadly, too many) but I do recommend "1917" for WWI and "Apocalypse Now" for Vietnam. Spielberg's "Schindler's List" should also be required viewing now that you've seen SPR. Another amazing film that came out last year that focuses on the Holocaust in a very unique way is "The Zone of Interest". It takes place at the home of the German who works at Auschwitz and literally lives on the other side of the wall at the camp. You never see anything happening at the concentration camp at all, but the sounds and the stark contrast between their privileged life and what happens just on the other side of the wall is uniquely disturbing. The filmmaking was very unique, as well. Rooms in the house and areas outside of the house were often filmed on up to ten or more cameras at once and the actors played the scenes out almost as if they were on stage. There are very rare cuts and it's an intense experience.
Generation Kill, HBO miniseries production, based on non-fiction book by embedded reporter Evan Wright. I was in U.S. Army for ten years and participated in OIF 2003-2004. Generation Kill, although dramatized in some ways and watered-down in other ways, is the most accurate depiction I've seen of military operations of that era; from how commands from up high trickle down to the bottom to how individual soldiers* interact with one another. *The show depicts Marines, which is a type of soldier, despite Marines insisting they aren't soldiers. Saying Marines aren't soldiers is like saying a particular type of automobile isn't an automobile because of how it's used. A semi or a Ferrari or a motorcycle are all automobiles. Marines are soldiers. 🤦♂️
It has been reported widely that it was while they were working together on Saving Private Ryan that Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg decided to work together on creating the Band of Brothers series...so you will experience a lot of similar visual and auditory styles between the two. Saving Private Ryan is incredibly realistic in most every way, with a very few exceptions...such as bullets not being able to kill you that far underwater, and flamethrowers not really exploding that way in 1944. One thing to know, pay no mind at all to that man who took off his helmet on the beach at 6:12 and then got shot in the head...that next shot would have killed him even if he had kept his helmet on. The helmets of WW2 would almost never stop a bullet, except under very very rare circumstances. The movie is not a true story, and it differs from the actual history of D-Day in many ways...but the basic plot is loosely based on the 4 Niland Brothers, one of whom served with the 101st Airborne Division. However, when 3 Nilands were reported dead, no mission was sent behind enemy lines to get the last brother, and it turned out that one brother that had been thought dead had actually only been captured. The 4th brother was found and notified by an Army Chaplain, and was sent home, but as far as the brothers none of what happened in this movie happened in real life. There really was a Company C of the 2nd Rangers that landed on Omaha Beach, but they were commanded by Captain Ralph Goranson, and they did not land quite where it was shown in the film. Probably the most important historical thing that Spielberg got wrong is that he had the boats that carried the Rangers to the beach being driven by Americans...they were not. On D-Day, the boats that carried the US Rangers to the beach were driven by UK sailors of the Royal Navy. There are many other things in the film that are not accurate to the real history of D-Day, but that one really fails to honor some of the men that fought and died at Omaha Beach, so it is definitely the one most worth noting. The location at the beginning with the French and US flags is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial...located in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France. Most of the US servicemen killed in the 2 and a half month long Normandy Campaign are buried in this cemetery...a total of 9388 burials.
I know this is just a film but when I look at the opening sequence and the absolute carnage the wermacht inflicted on the western allies it is actually insane to think that Germans only designated 20% of their forces to the western front. When I start to think about what the soviets had to deal with, I get emotional a bit.
It was far more than 20% of the Heer at that stage of the war. Consistently more than 20% of the Luftwaffe & the Kreigsmarine throughout the war as well. How many U-boots did the Soviet's sink? The combined bomber offensive tied up 90% of the 88 & 128mm guns that could have gone to the Heer. It was a cooperative effort by all of us but the Soviet Union & now Russia have deliberately & consistently underplayed the efforts of the Western Allies.
@Gingycat100 have they, though? I mean, played down the West's contribution towards defeating the Germans? I feel like its the west that has downplayed the Soviet's sacrifice during ww2 for example we all know about the atrocities the Germans committed against the Jewish people, 6 million murdered but fewer people know about the 27 million people the Soviets lost. For sure, the Cold War has a lot to do with this. The West didn't want its citizens to be sympathetic towards the soviets. It's also why the Soviets committed atrocities against the Germans just before the war ended and in the immediate period after.
When I was stationed at Schoefield Barracks in Hawaii, I had to go through drownproofing. Part of the training involved going off the high dive while fully dressed with a backpack and rifle. This was to teach you how to avoid drowning. They also classified your strength as a swimmer. Non-swimmers splashed around in the kiddy pool side. Regular swimmers swam the length of Olympic size pool while wearing swimsuit. Being from Michigan of course I qualified strong swimmer which required swimming 5-laps in full BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform) with your weapon. They were nice enough to let you kick off your boots. I did it but it was not easy. after about 3-strokes, your uniform had soaked up all the water and arms felt like lead weights. The reward for exceling was when you were in the field and encountered a water crossing, you had to tow the non-swimmer across the obstacle.
When this movie first came out there were several accounts of WWII vets having PTSD flashbacks during the beach landing. Theaters started having counselor's setup in the lobbies for anyone who needed help.
When I was growing up in the 1960s, TV showed vast numbers of WWII movies, many of them made during the war. They did this, I think, as patriotic propaganda for the Vietnam War. I got completely burned out and stopped watching war movies. SPR was a rare exception, which I saw on TV a few years after it came out. I do think it is the best war movie ever in terms of its realism and its “earn this” theme of gratitude. I still feel a close connection to WWII. My father was one year too young for the fighting, but he was in the occupation of Japan in 1946. I had two uncles who went through the Italian campaign and survived into my adulthood. My mother’s first cousin was second day at Normandy, but therefore got moved to the front line for the horrendous Hedgerows battle and was among the troops cut off behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge. He had even more horrific experiences in the Korean War. He was very close to our family in his later years (his early 50s) because he was a bachelor living at the “Old Soldier’s Home” in Washington and often visited us. I attended his burial at Arlington National Cemetery when I was 12. I will recommend two war movies that others are unlikely to name: the original “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930), the first super-realistic war movie and a phenomenal directorial achievement, and “The Steel Helmet” (1951) a tremendous movie about the Korean War, highly regarded but never watched by reactors. Be the first!
Eh, the same soldier was begging and pleading for his life, earlier in the movie. Turns out, according to this movie, cowardice was absolutely "thinkable" for a German soldier. Try again...
@@codymoe4986 It is not in fact the same soldier. They just look kind of similar. Nice to have an attitude while in actuality being wrong. So.... try again.
@@scottb3034I may be wrong but I think he's talking about the German who walks by Upham on the stairs. That guy is in fact the same soldier who was spared by Tom Hanks earlier and befriended by Upham. That is the same guy who shoots Tom Hanks on the bridge. Then it is the same guy who Upham executes after the Germans retreat and a few surrender. I don't know who you guys are talking about but that German guy recognizes Upham at the end, which is how it is confirmed to be the same guy
My father came in on the second wave at Normandy. He died in 1997 before SPR was released. He did say that The Longest Day (1962) was as accurate to his experience as he had seen on film. It shows more perspectives with an all-star cast. I suggest adding it to your watch list. 😊
5:47 A lot of people point this out, but as they're panning across Wade and the other medics working on the battalion surgeon, they take a barrage of gun fire, and the medic on the left side gets hit in the canteen. You see the water running out of his canteen and it turns red, you actually see him reaching down into his pants to put pressure on the wound. There are so many horrific little touches like that in this film, just slightly off center of focus, but take a lot of pre-planning to achieve in a realistic fashion. 8:46 It's one of those things this movie does that is subtle. They didn't subtitle any of the foreign dialogue. Those two were conscripts. Forced to fight by the Germans. A lot of people don't know this but the German Atlantic Wall defebses was actually understrength on D-Day, had the invasion been delayed any further, German Reinforcements would have been there and there would have been no chance for the allies to break through. A lot of the positions were held by young boys, older men, and conscripts from German occupied Poland, France, and Czech. The two that were surrendering were Czech, and they were basically saying "don't shoot we're not German, they made us fight."
The two greatest films cross genre: Casablanca (1942) WWII Africa, Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" (1954) set in 1586 in Japan's Sengoku period (technically not a war film but has all the trappings.)
Here's a weird tie-in between Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers. Saving Private Ryan was inspired by the Niland brothers. Sgt. Bob Niland was killed on D-Day and Lt. Preston Niland was killed the next day in Normandy. Sgt. Edward Niland was listed as missing and presumed dead earlier in the year (he was actually in a Japanese POW camp). So the Army sent a team to get the fourth brother, Sgt. Frederick "Fritz" Niland of the 501 Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne to bring him home from Normandy. Like Private Ryan, when he was found, he tried to stay with his company, but was bought home anyway. As it turned out, Fritz Niland was best friends with Skip Muck of the Band of Brothers fame (he was the one who bragged about swimming across the Niagara River in episode 7) as they were both from Tonawanda, NY, as well as Don Malarky, Joe Toye and Chuck Grant from Easy Company from their Camp Toccoa days. They used to go out drinking together when they were in England before D-Day, as recounted in the book Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose.
This film is absolutely stunning and accurate to the experience. When it came out I went on a date and the theater was filled with veterans and they were balling. It was one of the most powerful moments I experienced in my life. This is what war is, and that was the greatest generation and there has been nothing but weakness sense. Hard times make strong men. Strong men make good times. Good times make weak men. Fact of life
"A Bridge Too Far." Epic WW2 movie that deals with Operation Market Garden (Band of Brothers dealt with it in the episode where Bull Randleman was cut off an on his own). One of those epic 1960s movies with just about every Hollywood star in it. Fantastic movie.
I like the reaction by you guy's , you are taking it all in , there are so many great made war movies out there , Glory is one, Gettysburg is another , that is a long movie though but may i recommend " WE WERE SOLDIERS " . looking forward to your future reactions , i am following your journey on band of brothers , good luck .
The sniper shot down the scope was a nod to Carlos Hathcock, an Army sniper in Vietnam, who actually made a shot like that. There was a book written on his life, and was a fascinating read.
Something many people miss is that when Tom Hanks character is giving orders he knows all the men by name and recognizes them when he is giving orders. That's a leader.
I remember when I saw this in the theater, by the end of the Normandy beach scene, I found myself slumped down in my seat as low as possible- guess I was instinctively trying to find cover. Amazing movie.
God bless all the courageous veterans with nerves of steel who risked everything and sacrificed so much to protect our countries and preserve the freedoms we enjoy today! Tom Hank’s admonition to Private Ryan to “Earn this!” applies to each and every one of us. It reminds us of the great debt we owe to our nations’ war fighters because of the tremendous sacrifices they have made on our behalf. God bless all the souls - military and civilian - that we have lost in times of war! God bless America! God bless us all and grant us peace!
I’m late to the party but, Hacksaw Ridge, 1917, and Full Metal Jacket are all fantastic. Hacksaw Ridge’s story is incredibly wholesome, 1917 won awards for the cinematography, and FMJ is a classic film that will leave you speechless. All 3 are from different “era’s” of filmmaking and 3 different wars too, so you get a unique perspective with each one from different times and with different technologies.
I assume you upload to youtube after a delay but watching this film after the 1st episode of Band Of Brothers but before the 2nd episode is as perfect as you can do for the watching order.
'The Pianist' is in my top three war movies..... "Heaven and Earth ," from 1993 is a great, true story about a Vietnamese girl's experiences through the Vietnam war. Worth watching for sure..... "The Patriot," "Hacksaw Ridge," "Schindler's List," "'Platoon," There are so many that I can't think of at the moment. Love your reactions. Keep them coming.
It isn't WWII, but "Glory" is a wonderful Civil War film---well written, great acting and a good mix of action and character arcs
yes!!!
Double yes!!
I agree.Denzel Washington is outstanding in that film.
On my top 10 movies of all time list. Denzel was amazing in it.
Great film. And Glory won Best Picture (while nominated, SPR lost out to Shakespeare In Love in 1999. Ridiculous).
Blackhawk Down (true story), Hacksaw Ridge (true story), 13 Hours (true story), We Were Soldiers (true story)...
The end of We Were Soldiers was not remotely accurate though. The movie was good until that point.
Patton (true story)
All very good films. Also Platoon, The Siege of Jadotville, Lone Survivor.
You have to chuck in 'Tears Of The Sun'
" All quiet on the western front " partly true story
"The cemetery in the beginning of Saving Private Ryan is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France:
The cemetery is the largest allied burial ground in Normandy and honors American soldiers who died in Europe during World War II. It's located on the site of the former Saint Laurent battlefield cemetery and covers 172.5 acres. The cemetery contains 9,388 gravesites, including those of two of the Niland brothers, who may have inspired the character Private Ryan."
A note on the "surrendering" "Germans" - They WERE in German uniforms but they were speaking Czech saying "We are not German, we are Czech, we didnt kill anyone" - spielberg did this to give a nod to the 1000's of Czechs that were "impressed" into German service on the Atlantic Wall.
this comment
Check out police videos. The bad guy rarely says yup i shot that guy i'm guilty. No shortage of non germans that jumped on the nazi band wagon when they were winning
And they certainly could have been Sudaten Germans loyal to Hitler.
"Every man I kill, the further away from home I feel."
This is the key line of the movie. Captain Miller knows that the war is eating away at his humanity.
Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixby is considered to be one of the purest examples of the English language every written.
[citation needed]
@@rollomaughfling380 Seems like you need some proper English too. 'Ever' not 'every'.
@@DestinyAwaits19 Who and WTF are you talking about, mate?
@@rollomaughfling380 Read the original comment then come back to me.
@@DestinyAwaits19 You were (nonsensically) replying to me, ya blockhead. Maybe _you_ need a lesson on how online communications work.
He says Band of Brothers was hard to watch sometimes.
Saving Private Ryan-“Hold my beer.”
If Band of Brothers is intense, he should check out The Pacific.
Savings private Ryan was hard to watch?
Blackhawk Down: "hold my beer"
@@moonmc1047 not even close
@@sonnykanon358 Its more terrify and disturbing.
Spielberg told the actors that the movie was not about having fun or just another action movie. He wanted to portray the raw horrors of war and the emotion. He even had the Actors camp out with rations for a few days to really let them get a feel of what their role was going to be, mentally prepare the role and really get into character. Spielberg wanted the movie to connect with veterans. One veteran said.. "The movie was as close as you will get to the horrors of that war and that he captured the emotion perfectly.". ❤❤
For WW1 the film ‘1917’ is a compelling watch.
Also, All Quiet On The Western Front (2022) is an excellent WW1 film
Such an amazing film and I really hope they do watch it.
You are the first reactor I have seen that has shown sympathy when it comes to the scene where the French parents are trying to get the Americans to take their children. So many reactors who, if they comment on that part, have said things along the lines of, “That’s just stupid” “Why would you do that” or “I would never do that to my child.” I’m not saying these other reactors are bad people, but it goes to show how far removed from the horrors of war most of us are, because if anyone could possibly have it worse than the soldiers, it’s the civilians who are caught in the crossfire. Thank you for that little moment. ❤️
Cheers, Canada. We remember you at Juno beach. Thanks for being family with us.
Thanks for the nod! =)
yes, thank you for the nod sir 🇨🇦👍
Thank you sir. Remembrance Day here yesterday which I believe coincides with your Memorial Day
@@jasonm8017 Veterans Day is November 11th in the US. Memorial Day is at the end of May.
@ thank you, I regrettably mixed those up
HACK. SAW. RIDGE!! Incredible story of someone who was SO MUCH MORE badass in real life, amazing acting, stunning score, and some of the most beautiful cinematography I’ve ever seen
The Thin Red Line and The Great Raid too. The Pacific theater doesn’t get near enough attention.
All my uncles were either at Omaha beach, in the 101st Airborne (Screaming Eagles) of in the Merchant Marines at sea. My dad was in California preparing to go ashore in Japan but they dropped the atomic bomb so the war was over. My uncle Paul was a short Italian who landed at Omaha Beach and his landing craft was short so he jumped out and sank to the bottom. a tall friend from Iowa pulled him out and saved his life. That friend later got shot in the head by a sniper. My Uncle Johnny was in the 82nd then 101st Airborne. He was stuck at Bastogne during Christmas of 1944. This was the Greatest Generation and Spielberg showed all the true emotions of that these men and their families felt.
For what it's worth, they were serving in a merchant marine (merchant navy), not "merchant marines" themselves. People working on a merchant-marine ship are "merchant mariners," or "merchant sailors." "Merchant marines" would refer to merchant navies from two or more countries. At any rate, bless their souls.
@ during WW 2 Merchant Marines were actually considered part of the US Navy and got US Veteran status.
@@rmlb36 Ok, well, you're entirely missing the point, still referring to individuals as "merchant marines." I didn't say anything about their status as military in wartime.
When Captain Miller says to Ryan, “Earn this…”, he’s talking to all of us who’ve benefited from their sacrifice
Well said.
It's a good thing he's not real and didn't live to see the current state of the world.
I didn't catch that! Makes it an even more powerful moment.
Capt. Miller may be a fictional character, but there are still about 60,000 WWII veterans still alive. I can't imagine how they feel seeing things the way they are.
@@a3sthetik And even if they are not around,, they have families. Did they die for nothing?
All of those "balloons" on the beach, that you asked about, are called "barrage balloons." They are sent aloft and tethered to a stationary object. They have thick steel guy-wires holding them in place. They are used to prevent enemy aircraft from flying low along the beach and shooting at troops.
Barrage Balloons were used to protect ground troops from enemy aircraft that would come to strafe the beaches. These balloons had steel cables attached to them that presented a hazard to enemy aircraft.
“We’re not here to do the decent thing, we’re here to follow fucking orders!”
The most cold blooded line Tom Hanks delivered in any of his movies.
Hello, almost all of Hank's lines in " The Lady Killers (2004) " were cold blooded.
Nah, just about any line in Road to Perdition.
@ name two
@@SparksDrinker so you dispute that he didn't say anything foreboding & or "cold-blooded", ooooh so dramatic. Lol
@@SparksDrinker number one; “- Michael Sullivan: I'd like to work for you.
- Frank Nitti: Well... that's very interesting.
- Michael Sullivan: And in return, I'd like you to turn a blind eye to... what I have to do.
- Frank Nitti: And what is that?
- Michael Sullivan: Kill the man who murdered my family.”
We Were Soldiers, Lone Survivor, 13 Hours, Glory, The Patriot, Hacksaw Ridge...the list of amazing war movies is long. And its worth watching every single one of them. Great reaction guys.
The Thin Red Line, it's a Masterpiece! It's about the WW2 US soldiers fighting the Pacific against the Japanese! Most people know of The War in Europe like Private Ryan, but the War in the Pacific fighting from island to island against the Japanese who were dug in, and would never surrender was something else! It's where they raised the famous statue of American Flag on the Island of IWO JIMA!! My jaw was on the floor during some battie scenes! It's VERY realistic! 😮
It was good but no masterpiece. It's not on the level of saving private ryan
Amazing film. So different to SPR but equally as good.
Agreed, TTRL Is a masterpiece, people who say it's not clearly don't understand it.
@@chrisfofficial Which is exactly why it's not realistic at all. The entire nonsense of them being philosophical while in the combat zone is ridiculous. Ask anyone who's ever been in combat about this movie, they will laugh. Sure, once you get far from the fighting there may be time and state of mind for all of the reflection and pontificating, but that's not how it goes at all in combat. Again, instead of just imagining something, ask someone who's actually been in it, you obviously havent (and yes, I have 3 combat ribbons and a purple heart. TTRL is NOT how it is)
A fantastic movie that rips my guts out every time. My grandfather was in Germany in WW2 and got blown up in Hurtigan forest. Spent a year in hospital recovering. When my dad was in the Air Force we got stationed in Germany. My grandpa refused to come visit until the last 6 months because of his PTSD. H
They did finally come visit and he loved it. Probably just because he could see his grandkids
People don't understand a very simple truth about soldiers at war. No matter what mission you are on you are in danger of dying. Every mission contributes to winning the war. Saving one soldier is no more dangerous than any other mission. As Hanks says 'We are here to win the war.'
The shaking hand wasn’t just fear. War fear is when your whole body shakes. The Captain probably had Parkinson’s.
Hacksaw Ridge- true story, love story, entirely different perspective on going to war...
Paladin
I will never understand people thinking that movie is anything other then an embarrassment.
@@olbenny4027 Oh come now it's not that bad lol. It's not like Michael Bay's "2 Guys a Girl and a Sneak Attack".
Pretty inaccurate in a lot of places but still, it is a good movie.
Good movie but also super over the top at many points. Thin Red Line is waaay better Pacific Theatre film
Here are a few of my favourite war/military themed films:
Pre WWI: Zulu; The Four Feathers (1939); Glory!; Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World; Breaker Morant; The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936); The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
WWI: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930); Gallipoli; Paths of Glory; Sergeant York
WWII: Hacksaw Ridge; Das Boot; The Great Escape; The Dirty Dozen; Stalag 17; The Bridge on the River Kwai; The Battle of Britain; Letters From Iwo Jima; The Pacific (Band of Brothers type mini series); Patton; The Guns of Navarone; Where Eagles Dare; Enemy at the Gates; Memphis Belle
Post WWII: We Were Soldiers; The Killing Fields; Pork Chop Hill; Black Hawk Down; Apocalypse Now
OK, that's more than a few, but there are a lot of good films out there.
Great list!
If you watch Letters from Iwo Jima then watch Flags of Our Fathers as they are supposed to be watched together; Flags of our Fathers tells the story of the battle of Iwo Jima from the US side and Letters from Iwo Jima is from the Japanese point of view.
Both absolutely fantastic masterpieces by Clint Eastwood.
I was a Navy Corpsman (counterpart to Wade's Doc), I served 10 years, 8 with Marines. I saw this on a Tuesday afternoon. There were 12 of us. Myself, and 11 others, all veterans. At the end of the movies, the house lights went up. All of us had teary eyes. One old man stated the following- "As far as war movies go, that was the most accurate depiction I've ever seen . As for the ACTUAL D-Day, it didn't come close"
His hat said it all- D-Day Survivor, Purple Heart. I have always deferred to his expert opinion. As bad as you think it was as shown in the movie, it was much, much worse.
As accurate as it was, they simply could not show the reality of that day. The beach wasn't taken in 20 minutes, it took nearly 12 hours. The beach was nearly 500 yards wide thanks to a very low tide. There was literally no cover. All they could do was take whatever was thrown at them. While this was shown from the American sectors, Canadian, British & Commonwealth Nations were all present on those beaches.
And then, after all that, the 2nd Ranger Battalion had to scale the 100 foot cliffs at Pointe du Hoc, under enemy fire, to remove the German artillery that wan't even there. The Greatest Generation indeed!
If I recall correctly the Canadians at Juno were landed at the right spot and the Naval barrage did a much better job of softening up the shore defences where the Americans at Omaha were landed in the wrong position and the Navy missed the shore defences and the shells hit too far inland so all of the German positions were more or less completely intact when the Americans hit the beach.
And for as awful Omaha beach was, that level of death and despair (or worse) was basically a daily occurrence on the Eastern Front for almost the entire war.
The beach was actually taken in roughly 4.5 hours. The first wave of landing forces hit Omaha beach at 0630 hours. 0830 hour landing was in force taking heavy casualties. 1000 hours, troops began regrouping into small units searching for beach exits. 1030 Hour, US units start to overwhelm german defences. By
1100 hours Major General Gerow, commander of V Corps, receives the first positive intelligence report to come from Omaha Beach. Spotters observe GIs advancing up the slope behind Easy Red and Easy Fox. The fortified house at Exit E-3 has fallen silent, and a destroyer is shelling Les Moulins. The report ends, “Things look better.” The situation at Omaha continues to gradually improve during the afternoon.
Thanks for your service, brother.
Former HM3 here.
The Royal Canadian Army participated on Juno Beach part of the Normandy Invasion. Canadian Actor James Doohan (Played Scotty on Star Trek) was a veteran.
Canadians were some of the fiercest fighters and bad-ass soldiers in the ETO. Following Juno they ran into one of the toughest, most elite German units in the entire Wehrmacht and destroyed it (12th SS panzer division). The fighting the Canadians did in Italy was also some of the fiercest fighting in that campaign. As an American vet who reads everything he can about WW2, I have the utmost respect for the Canadian troops that fought in that war. Some bad-ass dudes for sure.
2:54 not chain guns, but MG42 belt fed machine guns. Chain guns are typically mounted on vehicles and use a chain-linked system to help cycle the weapon’s action (something like the M242 Bushmaster, which is mounted on Bradley IFVs that you see in Ukraine right now, is a chain gun).
The MG42 was the standard infantry machine gun for the Germans in WWII. A weapon so effective that it is basically still being used today. It fires at an incredible 1,200-1,500 RPM. For context, most Allied machine guns fired around 500-600 RPM. No other infantry machine gun fired that fast. They were so effective that the Americans had to create specific training films to help soldiers deal with the sound of the weapon firing.
"It's bark is worse than it's bite."
LOL ok sure
Excellent. You guys have such superb & genuine reactions, intellectually & emotionally, to everything of your content that I have watched. Love you & your work. Thank you for sharing all with us.
Aww, thank you so much for your kind words! ❤
@ All my pleasure. You deserve the accolades. Again, thanks for the content!
What the German soldier says to Mellish at the end of the knife fight is haunting. It almost makes me regret learning German. He says:
"Give up, you don't stand a chance. Let's end this here. It will be easier for you, much easier. You'll see it will be over quickly."
You know German ?
Ehrlich ?
@@AlexanderWinterborn-r6p Lol butthurt much?
Great reaction. Stalag 17 - The Dirty Dozen - The Great Escape - Bridge over the River Kwai are classics.
"Schindler's List" is a must. "Fury" is amazing.
Absolutely
Yeah, "Schindler's List" is a perfect bookend to this film and to Spielberg's filmography, in general. It shows what we there in Europe fighting for. Well, sort of. The US certainly didn't really get involved to try and stop the Holocaust until we got bombed by Japan at Pearl Harbor (but don't bother watching that movie) but SL might be Spielberg's ultimate masterpiece, and certainly on of his most personal given his Jewish heritage.
Fury is garbage.
Fury is good.
Schindlers List is pure propaganda.
Except that disgusting twisted dinner party they had where the scumbags ate jealous so they start disrespecting the women. Fcking grotesque behavior.
Charming party, it's a pity I wasn't invited. I would have loved to have, corrected them.
Always good to see someone watch Saving Private Ryan for the first time. It is a tough movie to get through, but I believe it is an important one to have seen at least once. Off the top of my head two other war movies that greatly impressed me are 'We Were Soldiers' and 'Black Hawk Down'.
Good luck with your journey to 40k subscribers!
I've been to the cemetery at the start/end, it's literally just a few hundred yards from the beach itself - it was an emotional and humbling experience.
All this time I was thinking that was Arlington Cemetery (which I've been to). Thanks for the long over due correction!
Went there with my dad when I was 10. Definitely a sight to see
I’m still amazed the Americans were able to take that beach.The Germans had all the advantages and only two US DD Sherman tanks were able to get onto the beach as so many were launched too far out and sank.Apparently some battleships were able to get in close and add firepower to take out some of the machine gun nests.The Canadians also had it pretty bad at Juno as well,but Omaha was the one that came close to being lost.I hope to do that trip to Normandy myself.After all the films and documentaries I’ve seen,I feel like I know the place!
They did mention the Sullivans, five brothers enlisted and assigned to the USS Juneau, all died when the ship was sunk. Recommendations "Valkyrie", "Momuments Men" "Conspiracy" "Patton" "Tora Tora Tora" "Blackhawk Down" to name a few. Great reactions, two in a row I have watched. The opening and closing scene was the Normandy cemetery American section, there is a British and French sector.
I believe Saving Private Ryan was the first Hanks/Spielberg collaboration. This caused them to work together and do Band of Brothers followed by The Pacific and now Masters of the Air. I have not seen Masters of the Air yet, but consider the other three Spielberg/Hanks works it will be amazing. I highly recommend you watch them.
One of the best movies is the true story of Desmond Doss called Hacksaw Ridge. This movie has so much meaning to me because of my Dad. Desmond Doss was an Army Medic, my Dad was a Navy Corpsman with the Marines and both were in the Battle of Okinawa. This movie is so emotional and inspiring.
Other good movies based on WWII are The Fighting Sullivans. The General and his officers talk about the Sullivan brothers while talking about getting Ryan back.
There are two good Clint Eastwood movies (Producer). Letters From Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers. These two movies are based on the Battle of Iwo Jima, one from the Japanese Perspective the other from the American Perspective.
Tora, Tora, Tora is another good movie, it is about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and ends at the Battle of Midway, which was the turning point in the war in the Pacific.
Just a suggestion from a Navy Vet who served for 41 years 45 days.
Oh my gosh, 41 years and 45 days! We really appreciate you, and your movie suggestions ❤❤❤
A Vietnam war movie thqt is a "hard watch" is "Platoon" (1986) with Charlie Sheen, Tom Bereneger, and Willem Dafoe, and directed by Oliver Stone It won 4 Oscars, including for Best Picture and Best Directing.
And Oscar for Best Siund (since you mentioned it). You MUST see Schindler's List (Best picture Oscar by Spielberg); everyone needs to see this movie once in their lifetime.
I came here to say this. "Platoon" is a must watch.
Platoon is not a war movie. It is a movie about somebody's feelings about the Vietnam war. Just like All Quiet in the Western Front
An EXCELLENT film is the 1946 release of The Best Years of Our Lives. It won several Oscars and was one of the first films chosen to be part of the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry for its importance. It follows three veterans returning home. The director, and many crew and casts members were veterans and incorporated some of their personal experiences into the film. It is a quietly profound and powerful film. Highly recommended.
I’ve seen this film maybe 20 times over the years and it still brings a tear to my eye 😢
I am so glad you finally had an opportunity to see this great film. It is one of the most moving films I have ever experienced. Great reaction and I look forward to what is next for the two of you. We Were Soldiers and Windtalkers are two great movies to see. There are many more, two many to mention.
On many lists of most disturbing war films is "Come and See" (1985) which depicts the brutal Nazi occupation of Belarus during World War II.
Fantastic reaction! This movie is both gut-wrenching and beautiful at the same time. Love that you noticed the general had memorized Abe Lincoln's letter, that is subtle but very cool. And Chandra, you have huge "Disney Princess" eyes that are very expressive so when you are sad it is very impactful!
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN inspired Spielberg and Hanks to create Band of Brothers. As for suggestions, I personally think WE WERE SOLDIERS starring Mel Gibson is a great war movie
Band of Brothers was made fairly soon after this movie, while they still had the experts, uniforms, sets and equipment gathered together.
Indeed, We Were Soldiers is criminally underrated.
It was him apologizing for how ridiculous everything after the first scene of this movie was from a realism standpoint.
Everytime I rewatch this movie that last scene with Captain Miller telling Private Ryan to "Earn This", and then the older Ryan asking his wife to tell him hes lead a good life, that hes a good man. "begging her to let him know if he is and if he has is how I see it" just crushes me and makes me look back at my life and makes me ask myself the same things. "to which I honestly come up short every time". This is one of those movies that makes you look back at your own life and no matter how much you do, you never seem to be able to say yes to both questions. and that just further crushes me more.
I had never seen an entire theater audience sit in stunned silence for an extended period until the opening assault of this movie. For the rest the audience remained reserved because we had no idea when something bad would happen, or to whom.
Steven Spielberg is the most versatile filmmaker we've ever seen, and one of the most prolific. He gave us Schindler's List and Jurassic Park in the same year (1993). For a very different take on WWII from him, check out 1941 (1979)
War Film Recs:
The Train 1964
The Great Escape 1963
Stalag 17 1953
The Hurt Locker 2008
The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957
Das Boot 1981
The Dam Busters 1955
1917 2019
The Dirty Dozen 1967
The Pianist 2002
Hacksaw Ridge 2016
Murder holes is a reference to impact craters that were created by the enemy pre sighting their artillery. They would fire, creating the crater where soldiers would seek cover, then fire another round to hit the same spot. Defilade refers to a low spot that is unseen by the enemy.
And also "Gone With the Wind", "Casablanca" and "Bridge over river Kwai" for sure.
Fury, Hacksaw Ridge, Schindlers list these 3 movies are my reccomendation for you guys, cant wait to watch your reactions 🙂🙂
We Were Soldiers is among the best of the Vietnam war films. One of my personal favorites for how it depicts what a prolonged firefight looks like, and also bouncing between the war, and the toll it takes on the families at home. Based on the first engagements of American soldiers in Vietnam and Hal Moore's book "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young" (Hal Moore being the commander of the unit depicted in the film.)
Honestly, you might really enjoy Tora! Tora! Tora! It's a World War 2 movie about Pearl Harbor and was filmed by both American and Japanese film crews. It's a little procedural, but it really depicts just how both sides saw the event. It's a classic.
There's also other classics like The Longest Day, The Big Red One, Patton.
Also, if you guys really enjoyed Band of Brothers, there's also its sidequel series "THe Pacific" which depicts the experience of Americans fighting against The Japanese.
We Were Soldiers is typical Mel Gibson; great action movie, but laughably inaccurate. Having Col Moore as advisor didn't keep the nonsense out of the script, but still a good watch.
My favorite Vietnam movie would be The Iron Triangle, as it presents the view from both sides.
The Beast is an excellent movie about Soviets in Afghanistan, realistic except for the basic plot, but it puts good acting over just effects.
Great reaction guy! I saw this in the theater when it was first released….thst opening scene on the beaches of Normandy was so intense. Every person in was shocked…loud gasps, cries, tears,…it was a very difficult few minutes.
Yep same here,1998.That opening on Dog Green sector of Omaha Beach was absolutely incredible and the cinema I was in was so quiet as that battle took place.I remember watching a documentary on the BBC that year and GIs saying it was the most realistic depiction of the landings they’d seen.One GI said the film THE LONGEST DAY, got it so wrong,saying that they didn’t come off the landing craft howling like banshees! British landing boat driver,Jimmy Green,who took GIs into Omaha beach tells us how virtually every GI on his boat was hit and he was in tears telling us.Those machine gun nests on the bluffs with those MG 42s,Hitlers buzzsaws,did horrific damage to the first couple of waves of American soldiers that landed.
@@DerekHarrison-d5d To be fair, even this opening scene was far from historically accurate. There's plenty wrong.
@@Gunnar001Film makers have always done this Gunnar.Creative licensing they call it.If you want to see a war movie filled with inaccuracies,watch the 1965 film,THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE.Even Eisenhower criticised it! Just enjoy it for what it was,a cracking war movie and a great story.And more importantly,the reactors enjoyed it which this is all about.
I highly HIGHLY recommend The Big Red One, (1980) A story of the Ist Infantry Brigade, WW2. It stars Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill (yes, that one) and Robert Carradine. Excellent Movie, and ends with the same experience feeling as the Band of Brothers.
The Big Red One is a particular favorite of mine. My father served in the 1st Infantry Division from the North African invasion through Sicily. He was then transferred to the 3rd Infantry Division as a replacement. So To Hell and Back is another favorite. Since it's about Audie Murphy the most decorated soldier of WW2 who also was in the 3rd Infantry Division.
@@nathanmeece9794 The scene on the beach of Saving Private Ryan where they blow the barbed wire was taken from The Big Red One, it would seem.
My personal quintessential war movie list. Some aren’t necessarily combat specific movies but I feel are worth including. Also this list is just what I’ve seen that has impacted me the most so far. There are other classics I’m aware of but haven’t gotten around to yet like “Come and See, 1985” which I hear is incredible, “The Thin Red Line, 1998” and “Paths of Glory, 1957” just to name a few.
1. Saving Private Ryan, 1998
2. Schindlers List, 1993
3. Apocalypse Now, 1979
4. Full Metal Jacket, 1987
5. Hacksaw Ridge, 2016
6. Oppenheimer, 2023
7. All Quiet on the Western Front ( both the 2022 and original 1930 versions )
8. “1917”, 2019
9. The Great Escape, 1963
10. Das Boot, 1981
11. We Were Soldiers, 2002
12. Dunkirk, 2017
13. Letters From Iwo Jima, 2006
14. Platoon, 1986
15. Black Hawk Down, 2001
16. Flags of Our Fathers, 2006
These are just my personal favorites. It’s mostly film depictions of battles or events from the 20th century. So it excludes a myriad of other equally important and impactful stories and events. Also things like “The Pacific” would be top 5 if I included mini series and the like.
Thanks yall for such a beautiful reaction to not only my favorite war film but my favorite film of all time. Y’all are the best and I wish you more of it! 🤗 Sending love your way from Tulsa Oklahoma USA 🇺🇸🙏❤️🫡🇨🇦🥜✊😎👌
Flags of Our Fathers, director Clint Eastwood. At the Academy Awards Show Steven Spielberg said it best, "these were a bunch of 18,19 and 20 year olds and they saved the whole damn world."
Letters From Iwo Jima is worth watching as well.
Btw. EXCELLENT editing to avoid copyright. You showed the best of what needs to be shown to follow. Great job!
*"Omaha"* was the deadliest landing on *D-Day* the *US* other landing was named *"Utah"* but you *Canadians* played a part at landing *"Juno"* working with & between the two *British* landings *"Gold" & "Sword"*
As I recall reading somewhere, Omaha was the one landing that came closest to failing.
Omaha had the highest number of killed and wounded but Ive read in a few books that Juno actually had the highest number of casualties compared to troops landed
Schindler’s List is my favourite Spielberg WWII movie, but Saving P. Ryan is also truly amazing.
"Saving Private Ryan" is one of if not the best anti-war films ever made. It pulls no punches in showing the audience the brutal, horrible reality of warfare. Young men are thrown into a meat grinder, and those who survive it are forever changed - sometimes for the worse.
This movie is cornball.
@@johndeaux3703 ... Thanks for stopping by.
@@johndeaux3703 Ooh, edgelord in the house showing us how cool he is.
Spielberg was adamant that any sufficiently realistic war film is an anti-war film. Even still, there's an element of glorification through the reverence to its participants, perpetuating the "no such thing as an anti-war film" adage. Hell, even Full Metal Jacket, which is much bleaker and more cynical, precipitated significant spikes in military enlistment.
@@GarrettJayChristian ... I would say that any war film that shows soldiers being brave, unselfish and self-sacrificing could indeed inspire people to enlist. Perhaps it also happens in films with heroic police officers or rescue teams.
Shooting down the scope. Both snipers at that moment in time were aimed in on each other.
But the American was one-one thousandth faster on pulling the trigger.
Sargent York-1941 starring Gary Cooper a true story from WW1 Hello from North Carolina!
Another great reaction guys, hope you're both doing well
During the Napoleonic Wars and the tall-masted sailing ship era, "Master and Commander" with Russell Crowe and Paul Bethany is a great war movie and a respite from the mechanized nihilism of modern warfare.
Great reaction to a truly great film. Seeing this when it first came out at one of the best theatres in the U.S. - Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood - was an amazing movie-going experience. In that final battle scene when they tanks are approaching and you can see the ground rumbing, so were our seats. You could totally feel it and the rest of the sound system really contributed to the battle scenes, in particular. There are so many other amazing films covering all the wars (sadly, too many) but I do recommend "1917" for WWI and "Apocalypse Now" for Vietnam. Spielberg's "Schindler's List" should also be required viewing now that you've seen SPR. Another amazing film that came out last year that focuses on the Holocaust in a very unique way is "The Zone of Interest". It takes place at the home of the German who works at Auschwitz and literally lives on the other side of the wall at the camp. You never see anything happening at the concentration camp at all, but the sounds and the stark contrast between their privileged life and what happens just on the other side of the wall is uniquely disturbing. The filmmaking was very unique, as well. Rooms in the house and areas outside of the house were often filmed on up to ten or more cameras at once and the actors played the scenes out almost as if they were on stage. There are very rare cuts and it's an intense experience.
Generation Kill, HBO miniseries production, based on non-fiction book by embedded reporter Evan Wright.
I was in U.S. Army for ten years and participated in OIF 2003-2004. Generation Kill, although dramatized in some ways and watered-down in other ways, is the most accurate depiction I've seen of military operations of that era; from how commands from up high trickle down to the bottom to how individual soldiers* interact with one another.
*The show depicts Marines, which is a type of soldier, despite Marines insisting they aren't soldiers. Saying Marines aren't soldiers is like saying a particular type of automobile isn't an automobile because of how it's used. A semi or a Ferrari or a motorcycle are all automobiles. Marines are soldiers. 🤦♂️
Awesome reaction guys!
It has been reported widely that it was while they were working together on Saving Private Ryan that Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg decided to work together on creating the Band of Brothers series...so you will experience a lot of similar visual and auditory styles between the two.
Saving Private Ryan is incredibly realistic in most every way, with a very few exceptions...such as bullets not being able to kill you that far underwater, and flamethrowers not really exploding that way in 1944. One thing to know, pay no mind at all to that man who took off his helmet on the beach at 6:12 and then got shot in the head...that next shot would have killed him even if he had kept his helmet on. The helmets of WW2 would almost never stop a bullet, except under very very rare circumstances.
The movie is not a true story, and it differs from the actual history of D-Day in many ways...but the basic plot is loosely based on the 4 Niland Brothers, one of whom served with the 101st Airborne Division. However, when 3 Nilands were reported dead, no mission was sent behind enemy lines to get the last brother, and it turned out that one brother that had been thought dead had actually only been captured. The 4th brother was found and notified by an Army Chaplain, and was sent home, but as far as the brothers none of what happened in this movie happened in real life.
There really was a Company C of the 2nd Rangers that landed on Omaha Beach, but they were commanded by Captain Ralph Goranson, and they did not land quite where it was shown in the film. Probably the most important historical thing that Spielberg got wrong is that he had the boats that carried the Rangers to the beach being driven by Americans...they were not. On D-Day, the boats that carried the US Rangers to the beach were driven by UK sailors of the Royal Navy. There are many other things in the film that are not accurate to the real history of D-Day, but that one really fails to honor some of the men that fought and died at Omaha Beach, so it is definitely the one most worth noting.
The location at the beginning with the French and US flags is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial...located in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France. Most of the US servicemen killed in the 2 and a half month long Normandy Campaign are buried in this cemetery...a total of 9388 burials.
Lone survivor is a must
I know this is just a film but when I look at the opening sequence and the absolute carnage the wermacht inflicted on the western allies it is actually insane to think that Germans only designated 20% of their forces to the western front.
When I start to think about what the soviets had to deal with, I get emotional a bit.
It was far more than 20% of the Heer at that stage of the war. Consistently more than 20% of the Luftwaffe & the Kreigsmarine throughout the war as well. How many U-boots did the Soviet's sink? The combined bomber offensive tied up 90% of the 88 & 128mm guns that could have gone to the Heer. It was a cooperative effort by all of us but the Soviet Union & now Russia have deliberately & consistently underplayed the efforts of the Western Allies.
@Gingycat100 have they, though? I mean, played down the West's contribution towards defeating the Germans?
I feel like its the west that has downplayed the Soviet's sacrifice during ww2 for example we all know about the atrocities the Germans committed against the Jewish people, 6 million murdered but fewer people know about the 27 million people the Soviets lost.
For sure, the Cold War has a lot to do with this. The West didn't want its citizens to be sympathetic towards the soviets. It's also why the Soviets committed atrocities against the Germans just before the war ended and in the immediate period after.
When I was stationed at Schoefield Barracks in Hawaii, I had to go through drownproofing. Part of the training involved going off the high dive while fully dressed with a backpack and rifle. This was to teach you how to avoid drowning. They also classified your strength as a swimmer. Non-swimmers splashed around in the kiddy pool side. Regular swimmers swam the length of Olympic size pool while wearing swimsuit. Being from Michigan of course I qualified strong swimmer which required swimming 5-laps in full BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform) with your weapon. They were nice enough to let you kick off your boots. I did it but it was not easy. after about 3-strokes, your uniform had soaked up all the water and arms felt like lead weights. The reward for exceling was when you were in the field and encountered a water crossing, you had to tow the non-swimmer across the obstacle.
The Big Red One -Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill 💯
When this movie first came out there were several accounts of WWII vets having PTSD flashbacks during the beach landing. Theaters started having counselor's setup in the lobbies for anyone who needed help.
Another great WW2 film is THE THIN RED LINE. It's a haunting and beautiful film.
When I was growing up in the 1960s, TV showed vast numbers of WWII movies, many of them made during the war. They did this, I think, as patriotic propaganda for the Vietnam War. I got completely burned out and stopped watching war movies. SPR was a rare exception, which I saw on TV a few years after it came out. I do think it is the best war movie ever in terms of its realism and its “earn this” theme of gratitude.
I still feel a close connection to WWII. My father was one year too young for the fighting, but he was in the occupation of Japan in 1946. I had two uncles who went through the Italian campaign and survived into my adulthood. My mother’s first cousin was second day at Normandy, but therefore got moved to the front line for the horrendous Hedgerows battle and was among the troops cut off behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge. He had even more horrific experiences in the Korean War. He was very close to our family in his later years (his early 50s) because he was a bachelor living at the “Old Soldier’s Home” in Washington and often visited us. I attended his burial at Arlington National Cemetery when I was 12.
I will recommend two war movies that others are unlikely to name: the original “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930), the first super-realistic war movie and a phenomenal directorial achievement, and “The Steel Helmet” (1951) a tremendous movie about the Korean War, highly regarded but never watched by reactors. Be the first!
Another WW2 movie "Fury"(2014)
That vehicle is a "kettenkraftrad" (lit. tracked utility bike), used for hauling supplies through the mud on the Russian front.
Fury with Pitt and lots of others
Twelve o’clock high!!
Excellent study of leadership in combat.
The soldier walks by Upham because he does not see him as a soldier, cowardice was unthinkable for the germans.
Eh, the same soldier was begging and pleading for his life, earlier in the movie.
Turns out, according to this movie, cowardice was absolutely "thinkable" for a German soldier.
Try again...
@@codymoe4986 It is not in fact the same soldier. They just look kind of similar.
Nice to have an attitude while in actuality being wrong.
So.... try again.
@@codymoe4986 That is not the same soldier
@@scottb3034I may be wrong but I think he's talking about the German who walks by Upham on the stairs. That guy is in fact the same soldier who was spared by Tom Hanks earlier and befriended by Upham. That is the same guy who shoots Tom Hanks on the bridge. Then it is the same guy who Upham executes after the Germans retreat and a few surrender. I don't know who you guys are talking about but that German guy recognizes Upham at the end, which is how it is confirmed to be the same guy
@@codymoe4986the soldier that walks by upham is not steamboat willie
My father came in on the second wave at Normandy. He died in 1997 before SPR was released. He did say that The Longest Day (1962) was as accurate to his experience as he had seen on film. It shows more perspectives with an all-star cast. I suggest adding it to your watch list. 😊
5:47 A lot of people point this out, but as they're panning across Wade and the other medics working on the battalion surgeon, they take a barrage of gun fire, and the medic on the left side gets hit in the canteen. You see the water running out of his canteen and it turns red, you actually see him reaching down into his pants to put pressure on the wound. There are so many horrific little touches like that in this film, just slightly off center of focus, but take a lot of pre-planning to achieve in a realistic fashion.
8:46 It's one of those things this movie does that is subtle. They didn't subtitle any of the foreign dialogue. Those two were conscripts. Forced to fight by the Germans. A lot of people don't know this but the German Atlantic Wall defebses was actually understrength on D-Day, had the invasion been delayed any further, German Reinforcements would have been there and there would have been no chance for the allies to break through. A lot of the positions were held by young boys, older men, and conscripts from German occupied Poland, France, and Czech. The two that were surrendering were Czech, and they were basically saying "don't shoot we're not German, they made us fight."
The two greatest films cross genre: Casablanca (1942) WWII Africa, Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" (1954) set in 1586 in Japan's Sengoku period (technically not a war film but has all the trappings.)
FURY (2014)
Here's a weird tie-in between Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers. Saving Private Ryan was inspired by the Niland brothers. Sgt. Bob Niland was killed on D-Day and Lt. Preston Niland was killed the next day in Normandy. Sgt. Edward Niland was listed as missing and presumed dead earlier in the year (he was actually in a Japanese POW camp). So the Army sent a team to get the fourth brother, Sgt. Frederick "Fritz" Niland of the 501 Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne to bring him home from Normandy. Like Private Ryan, when he was found, he tried to stay with his company, but was bought home anyway. As it turned out, Fritz Niland was best friends with Skip Muck of the Band of Brothers fame (he was the one who bragged about swimming across the Niagara River in episode 7) as they were both from Tonawanda, NY, as well as Don Malarky, Joe Toye and Chuck Grant from Easy Company from their Camp Toccoa days. They used to go out drinking together when they were in England before D-Day, as recounted in the book Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose.
And in the Book Band of Brothers the replacement Miller is mentioned at about the same part of the book that Niland is mentioned. Coincidence?
The Pacific is mandatory watching as well
And now Masters of the air. All are just fantastic.
i expected a lot of Chandra's "OHHHHH NOOOOOOOO"s and was not disappointed :D
They say there's no such thing as a non-wounded warrior. If they're not physically wounded, they're mentally wounded.
Does that include those that don't see action?
Two words.
Kelly's Heroes
WWII without the harrowing trauma. Cannot recommend watching enough. Fantastic upload as always guys 👍
This film is absolutely stunning and accurate to the experience. When it came out I went on a date and the theater was filled with veterans and they were balling. It was one of the most powerful moments I experienced in my life.
This is what war is, and that was the greatest generation and there has been nothing but weakness sense.
Hard times make strong men. Strong men make good times. Good times make weak men. Fact of life
"A Bridge Too Far." Epic WW2 movie that deals with Operation Market Garden (Band of Brothers dealt with it in the episode where Bull Randleman was cut off an on his own). One of those epic 1960s movies with just about every Hollywood star in it. Fantastic movie.
I like the reaction by you guy's , you are taking it all in , there are so many great made war movies out there , Glory is one, Gettysburg is another , that is a long movie though but may i recommend " WE WERE SOLDIERS " . looking forward to your future reactions , i am following your journey on band of brothers , good luck .
Since you asked for suggestions, I recently watched "The Blue Max" for the first time and absolutely loved it. Its about fighter pilots in World War 1
Remember, we all live warm, well fed, safe lives because hundreds of thousands of boys and men died for such.
The sniper shot down the scope was a nod to Carlos Hathcock, an Army sniper in Vietnam, who actually made a shot like that. There was a book written on his life, and was a fascinating read.
Something many people miss is that when Tom Hanks character is giving orders he knows all the men by name and recognizes them when he is giving orders. That's a leader.
I remember when I saw this in the theater, by the end of the Normandy beach scene, I found myself slumped down in my seat as low as possible- guess I was instinctively trying to find cover. Amazing movie.
God bless all the courageous veterans with nerves of steel who risked everything and sacrificed so much to protect our countries and preserve the freedoms we enjoy today! Tom Hank’s admonition to Private Ryan to “Earn this!” applies to each and every one of us. It reminds us of the great debt we owe to our nations’ war fighters because of the tremendous sacrifices they have made on our behalf. God bless all the souls - military and civilian - that we have lost in times of war! God bless America! God bless us all and grant us peace!
“Tropic Thunder” is a fantastic war movie 😂. Great reaction!
I’m late to the party but, Hacksaw Ridge, 1917, and Full Metal Jacket are all fantastic. Hacksaw Ridge’s story is incredibly wholesome, 1917 won awards for the cinematography, and FMJ is a classic film that will leave you speechless. All 3 are from different “era’s” of filmmaking and 3 different wars too, so you get a unique perspective with each one from different times and with different technologies.
The balloons on the beach had steel cables attached. They were up their so enemy planes couldn’t fly over and machine gun our troops.
I assume you upload to youtube after a delay but watching this film after the 1st episode of Band Of Brothers but before the 2nd episode is as perfect as you can do for the watching order.
Also, A Bridge too Far (1977) is a classic WWII movie about the bridge at Ramelle, and the battle for that bridge. It's a famous battle
'The Pianist' is in my top three war movies..... "Heaven and Earth ," from 1993 is a great, true story about a Vietnamese girl's experiences through the Vietnam war. Worth watching for sure..... "The Patriot," "Hacksaw Ridge," "Schindler's List," "'Platoon," There are so many that I can't think of at the moment. Love your reactions. Keep them coming.